Going to use alarm for DS tonight- any advice or tips?

[okinawama]

Update: DS finally had his first dry night since we started the alarm!

Wow! Yaaay! How old is your DS? We are on night 15 and still usually up 3 times a night. Maybe I should start another thread and ask if our experience is "normal." Is my DS too young ( hes 5yrs 10 months).Is your DS waking up when the alarm is going off? DS still sleeps right through it and completely empties his bladder so never actually pees at all on the potty.

[liz]

Wow! Yaaay! How old is your DS? We are on night 15 and still usually up 3 times a night. Maybe I should start another thread and ask if our experience is "normal." Is ms DD too young ( hes 5yrs 10 months).Is your DS waking up when the alarm is going off? DS still sleeps right through it and completely empties his bladder so never actually pees at all on the potty.

Let me preface this by saying I pretty much read every review on Amazon before I bought this alarm. I think your experience IS normal. But I will also add that my Ped was not concerned about bedwetting until age 8 and even then he wasn't overly concerned. When I mentioned DS bedwetting at his annual physical, the Ped suggested an alarm.

Also, I could be wrong but I think the alarm was for ages 6 and up. Maybe your DS isn't ready? What I mean is, maybe his body hasn't matured enough to sense the bladder is getting full and it needs to hold it or wake up to empty the bladder. My oldest DS used sleep diapers until he was 6 (give or take a few months around his 6th birthday). It's his younger brother that we are using the alarm for, and he is 8.

My DS does wake up most of the time with the alarm, but we are still assisting him to get up. He can stop his urine and finish on the toilet. There has been a few times he has slept through it though. Before last night, he was setting off the alarm 1-2x a night. I anticipate we still have weeks to go before we get 14 straight dry nights.

[okinawama]

Interesting. I went down the road of the alarm because my pediatrician brought it up. Since we are already two weeks in, I feel like we should stick it out for a while longer and see if we notice an improvement and reassess later.

[liz]

Interesting. I went down the road of the alarm because my pediatrician brought it up. Since we are already two weeks in, I feel like we should stick it out for a while longer and see if we notice an improvement and reassess later.

I got tied up around the house, but I did read that the alarm is for ages 5 and up, so I was wrong about that sorry. I say keep going with the alarm! Malem did stress that the average length for training takes 10-12 weeks. I keep telling myself that, esp after reading some people had total success in just a few weeks. Getting up multiple times is so hard, it's like a having a newborn again. I am definitely getting a bit cranky with the interrupted sleep. Sending more mojo your way

[liz]

OP here, DS just made it to 16 dry nights!! So happy for him and he is so proud of himself. Love the Malem, can't recommend it enough!

How are things going Okinawama?

[okinawama]

Yay for you and your LO! I'm sure you're both thrilled! congrats!

Things over here are better, and I can see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, but he is still no where near consistently dry. He's had 4 dry nights since we started, and none of been consecutively. He is usually only waking once a night, and isn't emptying his bladder completely in bed, he usually stops his stream and finishes in the toilette. More often than not, I'm still waking him from a dead sleep as the alarm goes off, but somehow the alarm is still helping him wet fewer and fewer times (when we started he was wetting at least 3 times, and now down to 1) One of his dry nights he not only stayed dry, he woke up and went to the bathroom on his own. We are a little over 6 weeks into the alarm, and I suspect it will be a while until we have consistently dry nights, but I'm not feeling discouraged and DS is proud and excited to get to the point where he no longer needs the alarm.

[liz]

He is usually only waking once a night, and isn't emptying his bladder completely in bed, he usually stops his stream and finishes in the toilette. More often than not, I'm still waking him from a dead sleep as the alarm goes off, but somehow the alarm is still helping him wet fewer and fewer times (when we started he was wetting at least 3 times, and now down to 1) One of his dry nights he not only stayed dry, he woke up and went to the bathroom on his own. .

That's great progress!! DS had a similar transition, usually waking up once, being able to stop the urine and empty on the toilet. There were times I really had to work at getting him up-he was still in that sleep state where he would look at you but not really "see" you--while the alarm was going off. It really sounds like you are on the way to dry nights, sending mojo to your DS!

[AustenFan]

OP here, DS just made it to 16 dry nights!! So happy for him and he is so proud of himself. Love the Malem, can't recommend it enough!